3718.People of Color Dinner
Meet other fans of color and celebrate infinite diversity in infinite forms together! Hostesses Isabel and Jaymee will make sure you don't feel alone on the big spaceship. Meet in the lobby and we'll head out to dinner together. Everyone pays for their own meal, so bring some money.Isabel Schechter, Jaymee GohFRI 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm, Lobby

3750.Convention Revival or Too Damn Many New Cons?
New conventions seem to pop up daily whether it be a new comic con or a media specific con or other niche con. Join us as we discuss how this relatively new trend has this impacted conventions decades old and how do we see this impacting our future fan demographics in the next few years.Anastasia Hunter, Michael Siladi, Val Ontell, Isabel SchechterSAT 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm, Saint Louis

3787.It WAS Science Fiction But
Star Trek and other science fictional works have inspired great inventions. The power of imagination spurred by science fiction has gone on to create wonderful things in our material reality. What are some of these inventions? What are some social changes that have come because we dreamed better in our fiction?Eric Atkinson, Isabel Schechter, Mark OshiroSUN 10:00 am - 11:15 am, Boston

3797.The Odds of Gods (in Spaaaaaaaace!)
We assume that the future must be secular, because we assume science is incompatible with religion. This might not be the case! From alien religions, to the demystification of the divine, to the evolution of human religions, portrayals of religion in the distant future are present in science fiction. Let's discuss some of these portrayals and what we think about them from a variety of perspectives.Gregg Castro, Aviya Amir, Isabel SchechterSUN 11:30 am - 12:45 pm, Houston

3814.People of Color In Spaaaaaaace!
You can hate on the idea but we'll be there! What kinds of spaaaaace stories do we want to see ourselves in? What would make a POC-in-space story be different, aside from skin colour? What stories have we read recently that is about non-white people in space that we really liked, and which makes us look forward to the future?Gregg Castro, Eric Atkinson, Isabel SchechterSUN 2:30 pm - 3:45 pm, Boston